Silicon Valley: Counterculture or Monoculture?
Members of the elite club that is Silicon Valley like to see themselves as the innovators, radicals, and voices raising the most questions against the status quo. A counterculture that can code.
From Rebecca Solnit’s 2014 essay “Pale Bus, Pale Rider”,
These days in TED talks and tech-world conversation, commerce is described as art and as revolution and huge corporations are portrayed as agents of the counterculture.
The flashy gadgets and sleek ad campaigns often lead us to agree — their creations are advancing every year. These are the things we can see and use in our everyday lives. What we don’t often see is the dark side of tech. While tech companies undoubtedly imagine and create new human and business solutions to the persistent problems that have hindered the communities and economies of the past, these advancements are far from baggage-free. Tech was born out of a military-industrial complex that served the personal and private interests of a singular group of people, and in many ways the tech industry continues to do this today. When it comes to this industry, success is often for the few. If you’re not let in you are certainly left out. An often-unlucky few have noticed this tradition, and their numbers are growing.
The Origins of Technology
Many young aspiring engineers and innovators are inspired by the origin story of starting an empire in the garage of a suburban Palo Alto home , and would kill for a job at the “Big Four”: Facebook, Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. Many may not know that Google was founded with a $4.5 million government grant. Or that the internet was invented to alleviate Cold War paranoia. Many technological advancements and discoveries were military-funded initiatives that eventually were applied to products for the masses. This was not left in the past. The companies Facebook, Google, eBay and Yahoo! are part of the conservative political action committee ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), alongside dozens of other large corporations. ALEC lobbies for anti-immigrant legislation, corporate tax cuts, for pro-gun legislation, against criminal justice reform, against environmental protection legislation, and more. (Source)
Today’s Issues
The tech boom that continues to establish Silicon Valley’s economic success has brought with it negative externalities alongside the positive ones. Two of the greatest issues it has caused include 1) gentrification, and 2) gender and racial inequality.
Gentrification. The allure of Silicon Valley has generated a mass migration to the Bay Area, an already well-populated area. A simultaneous increase in demand and decrease in supply of housing has rent and purchase prices for homes soaring. Only techies are making enough money to stay in the area, and others are being driven out by exorbitant costs of living. San Franciscans born and raised are being pushed out of their homes after decades, and fewer people can afford to buy rather than rent with each passing year.
This has, naturally, caused a lot of public disruption and activism. In the past four to five years, this has taken form in protests against tech shuttles. These shuttles contribute heavily to the housing crisis in San Francisco. Companies are making it easier for employees to live in the city and commute to other regions of the Bay, causing an even greater and more concentrated demand for SF real estate. The public has called out companies such as Yahoo and Google for their contributions to the issue. Gentrification has displaced thousands of Bay Area inhabitants, and is cultivating a monoculture of techies. While these employees are not inherently bad, they are nonetheless the largest contributors to the rising rents and costs of living that drive out anyone who lacks a degree in the sciences, and largely anyone who is not a White or Asian male.
Gender and Racial Inequality. The world of business, and Silicon Valley in particular, has a longstanding tradition of failing to respect or pay women and minorities as much as they deserve. The tech industry tries to shut down such allegations, but they should know — of all people — that data doesn’t lie.
Females and minorities are constantly being discouraged from pursuing degrees or careers in STEM by their peers. The women and minorities that persevere through higher education are not met with the respect or esteem given to their White or Asian Male counterparts. Software developer is one of the most rapidly-growing occupations, and one of the highest-paying. In 2015, a report found that 92% of Software Developers were Male. Another survey found that women represented just 12 percent of engineers at major tech companies. (Source)
In 2015, a report found that 92% of Software Developers were Male. Another survey found that women represented just 12% of engineers at major tech companies.
These issues put San Francisco at the alarming risk of becoming a closed community of techies and techies alone. Teachers are increasingly unable to live in San Francisco, and must be imported from around the Bay to teach the children of said techies. Mom-and-Pop shops may no longer be able to pay the rent. The artists and culture that makes San Francisco so great and desirable to live in is being evicted as you read this article. The pattern continues, and soon no area of the Bay will be affordable. No room for diversity of thought or outside ideas is a danger to the success of the community itself; if Silicon Valley would like its trajectory to continue upwards, it must change its ways. Including more women and people of color, and being aware of social impact are necessary first steps. These initiatives must start at a young age, as once students are steered away from a topic or told they are incapable they may always be too afraid to try. We are rapidly approaching an economy where knowing how to code is equivalent to literacy, and we cannot selectively leave so many groups of people behind.
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